Which model did you purchase? I am curious how well the 6 Tuner Plus and Pro works with Cox in Phoenix, I do not expect any issues but maybe tuning the 6th channel on SDV *may* be an intermittent issue.

I haven't heard anyone mention the remote finder on the Roamio Plus and the Roamio Pro. Do any owners have any thoughts on that feature?

If you press the button to the right of the green button on the front panel the RF remote will play the intro video tune. Kind of a useless feature to me but entertainment for the kids and the dog.
FYI, if you press the green power button on the front panel this will toggle standby mode on the Roamio.

- The notion that $22 a month (what TWC charges for their DVR boxes) does not cover the cost of the boxes expected lifetime is hilarious. Assume the box lasts 3 years... that's an annuity of $22 a month. Assume 5% interest is the opportunity cost for TWC and you get an NPV of $733.61. Ebay lists common cable company DVR boxes used for $150 or less. Let's pretend TWC is paying $200 per box (whole-sale price). That leaves them $533.61 leftover to cover their install cost, maintenance and cable cards. OH NOES HOW WILL THEY EVER GET BY ON ONLY THAT?!?! Even if we assume the boxes sit idle for 1/3 of their lifetime (makes no sense, but ok) we can still see that they make MORE than their cost back on the unit in 3 years.

Not to blow up the rest of your argument, but there's no way that cable companies pay $200 for a new DVR. Using the residual value of a used, older generation DVR on eBay is totally bogus. If you look at some of the earnings reports for companies like Pace, it seems like they're charging cable companies are around $350 for standard DVRs and closer to $500 for advanced ("multiroom") DVRs. Of course, it's hard to verify this exactly, but in Canada, you used to be able to buy these at electronics stores and prices were roughly in those ranges (the best ones were upwards of CAD 600).

does this machine, or the Mini, eliminate the "red X" when trying to share Premium channel content that is a restriction with the Tivo Premiere, in other words, can a whole-home network actually be created?

to me, it still seems ridiculous that in 2013, I can't record in one room and watch in another....

Speaking of which, and maybe I missed it, is the Roamio opening different and is there a video of it somewhere?

It's the cute cartoony one that has the TiVo man walking through various decades and eventually stepping out onto a stage with a classic rolled background behind him. I've seen it before... it's not entirely new, if any part of it is new.

OK, searched out the standard Premiere opening, and it's identical up till the end in how the TiVo man exits walking through the decades of entertainment.

does this machine, or the Mini, eliminate the "red X" when trying to share Premium channel content that is a restriction with the Tivo Premiere, in other words, can a whole-home network actually be created?

to me, it still seems ridiculous that in 2013, I can't record in one room and watch in another....

Premier/Roamio/Mini's can stream (MRS) content between themselves even with protected content - and this has been the case for quite a while.

S3 units cannot stream content - they can only move between units (MRV), that has not changed.

Not to blow up the rest of your argument, but there's no way that cable companies pay $200 for a new DVR. Using the residual value of a used, older generation DVR on eBay is totally bogus. If you look at some of the earnings reports for companies like Pace, it seems like they're charging cable companies are around $350 for standard DVRs and closer to $500 for advanced ("multiroom") DVRs. Of course, it's hard to verify this exactly, but in Canada, you used to be able to buy these at electronics stores and prices were roughly in those ranges (the best ones were upwards of CAD 600).

I would agree, and even expected the prices to be another $50 higher. And everything I've seen indicates that the HD DVRs break down much more often than the SD models of anything. HD is more complicated and HD DVRs just haven't been around long enough to get all the kinks out.

I'm fine with the idea that the prices Comcast and others charge (though not Time-Warner) is reasonably close to break-even for them. They have a lot of overhead - customer support is much more expensive for them for instance. (I know my step-father calls Time-Warner every two weeks or so, and they come out every six weeks or so. Mostly his fault, though not always).

Wow. If you don't mind saying, what state are you located in? How did you manage to get it paired without talking to a person?* Do you have a phone number you could supply?*

Thanks!

*EDIT: I see that you posted a link to the instructions earlier

I'm sure its also on the website, but additionally, if you have gone through guided setup prior to installing the card, the system "knows" you have FiOS. When the card is installed, the cable card screen will come up and will have the correct phone number to call and also have all the correct card info right there on the screen. With the automated paring process, installing the cable card is slick and easy.

__________________
-Gordon
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"We have to create stars; that's what movies are about."

1.0 out of 5 stars Cheap Plastic, August 24, 2013
By Tim Whitfield
This review is from: TiVo TCD840500 Roamio HD Digital Video Recorder (Electronics)
I purchased directly from TiVo because, at the time, Amazon didn't have stock. Upon arrival, I unboxed immediately noticing how cheaply constructed it felt. Then I noticed 2 of the rubber feet were laying loose in the bag - obviously they had fallen off when it was packaged. Until the feet were glued back on the unit,it would not set level. My intuition told me this was going to be nothing but trouble!!

Returned to TiVo - I'm tired of being burned by consumer electronics companies.

Look to the Pro or Plus model. This version is cheap and disposable. The entire chassis is plastic and you can tell many corners have been cut. I'll just stay with my Premiere - at least it seems well made even if the software is and will always be inferior.

I know this wont be a big deal for most people, but I was just wondering when a program is recording, do you have the 4/6 red lights on the front panel to let you know how many programs are in progress of being recorded, or is there just that one big red light on the front and thats it? Thanks.